Sick and Twisted with Kevin Kline

So, when I started out with the intent of writing this blog it was going to be about the chain of events that led to Jennifer and me watching "Soapdish" this weekend.  But then I had some additional interesting thoughts.

As it started, we were looking for a movie to watch and came across one with Maggie Smith and Kevin Klein in it called "My Old Lady".  It's about a man who inherits an apartment from his father and learns there is under un viager.  Towards the end there is a possibility the woman he sleeps with is his half-sister, and so when the movie was done and we wanted to watch something else, I said, "Well, since we had the chance of incest in this one, we should watch his other one that almost had incest 'Soapdish'."

And then, I thought he was really great in "A Fish Called Wanda" but... wait.  Wasn't there an incest twist to that one?  Sure, Otto and Wanda weren't really brother and sister, but everyone else thought they were, and there was Wanda's great line about how her intentions wouldn't be different if he really was her brother.

Maybe, I should look through some of his other movies and see if there are any others that have an incest theme in them.

Discworld - Vampires, Pictsies, and Phoenixes

This is last book that Pratchett writes from the perspective of Granny Weatherwax.  We'll see her again a few times, but after this only as Tiffany Aching sees her.

I liked the bit of mystery in this one, as well as following Agnes Nitt.  It's also only the second time we've met an Igor, but the Igor that works at Biers in Ankh-Morpork doesn't have the stereotypical speech impediment of those fresh from Uberwald.  Also the concept of "what comes around goes around" is introduced which I think is pretty amazing way of making Igors a kind of karmic force.

And the cool part is that we get to immediately return to Uberwald in the next book The Fifth Elephant.

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Recurring characters and themes in this book:

Agnes "Perdita" Nitt

Ankh-Morpork

Bad Ass

Beastiality Carter

Bergholdt Stuttley “Bloody Stupid" Johnson

Big Jim Beef, Troll

Binky

Black Aliss / Alison Weatherwax

Blind Io

Borogravia

Brutha

Casanunda

Cena, The Prophet

Events of Small Gods

Granny Esmerelda Weatherwax

Greebo

Hodgesaargh, Falconer

Igor

Jason Ogg

Lancre

Lily Weatherwax

Magrat Garlick, Queen

Millie Chillum

Mrs. Scorbic, Cook

Muntab / The Muntab Question

Offler, the Crocodile-Headed God

Om/Omnia

Ossory, The Prophet

Queen Griminir

Quite Reverend Mightily-Praiseworthy-are-Ye-Who-Exalteth-Om Oats

Shawn Ogg

Simonites (Simony, Sgt.)

Skund

Slake

Spriggins, Butler

Tacticus, general

The Baron of Uberwald

The Death of Rats

The Nac Mac Feegle

The Ramtops

Uberwald

Unseen University

Vaelock Vetinari, The Patrician

Verence II, King
Young Esmerelda

Discworld - Lancre Witch Trials

"The Sea and Little Fishes" first appeared in Legends, a large anthology of stories that authors were asked to contribute to in order to expand their worlds.  It had many great shorts in it, but this one was the primary reason that I bought the book.

In hardback.

That it was a short story set in Lancre as a witches book, I couldn't pass it up.  When I read the tease that Pratchett had taken the idea of witch trials and turned it into something the witches had come up with, then I was more than ready for the book.

And the story doesn't disappoint.  It's a tight short story, almost a novella by Discworld standards, and you learn even more, just how dangerous Granny can be,

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Recurring characters and themes in this book:

Agnes Nitt
Death
Events in Lords and Ladies
Gammer Beavis
Granny Esmerelda Weatherwax
King Verence II
Lancre
Letice Earwig
Nanny Gytha Ogg
Old Mother Dismass
Pewsey Ogg
Poorchick and his cow
Witch Trials
Zakzak Stronginthearm

Discworld - A Wizzard in the Outback

So, I seem to have fallen behind on my posting.  I keep these posts as drafts while I'm reading, and update the recurring portion, but I got more caught up in reading (and the weekend) than posting.

The Last Continent is another book that is okay in my estimation, but not great.  It has lots of fun stuff in it, and the ending once Rincewind gets down to work is good, but otherwise it's a book that's just a compilation of things about Australia.

Otherwise, it's a fun light story.  And again, Rincewind finds a distant relative.

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Recurring characters and themes appearing in this book:

Albert

Galder Weatherwax, archchancellor 

Binky

Bill Rincewind, archchancellor BU
Bonsai Mountains

Bugarup University
Cohen the Barbarian

Death

Doughnut Jimmy

Dried Frog Fills

Dwarf Bread

Events from Eric

Fair-Go Dibbler

Genua

Hex

Lancre (blue cheese)

Mr. Hong’s Fish Restaurant

Mrs. Whitlow

Mustrum Ridcully, Archchancellor UU

Old Tom

Ponder Stibbons

Prophet Ossory

Purple Wobbly Bit

Rincewind

The Bursar

The Chair of Indefinite Studies

The Death of Rats

The Lecturer in Recent Runes

The Librarian

The Lost Wizard Colony

The Luggage

The Senior Wrangler

The Tezumen

Unseen University

XXXX / Ecks Ecks Ecks Ecks

Discworld - Watching the War

As I mentioned previously, I received Jingo as a thank you gift for VCR-sitting.  Now, there'd been things going on around Iran and Iraq for a while, and Pratchett had had things as a background to Desert Storm in Only You Can Save Mankind, he had also alluded to the situation in Klatch when Death joined the Klatchian Foreign Legion in Soul Music.  The subtle part was when Albert notes the actual dotted line that marked the territorial boundary that existed in reality passing through the desert.  But in Jingo, Pratchett gets down to what has really been going on.  It's also his twist on Lawrence of Arabia".

I think this book is a prime example of Pratchett's skill in writing.  As usual, he doesn't use paragraphs, breaking scenes using only white space, but the book just flows along smoothly from each stage of the story.

I'll admit that the first time I read it, I was a bit confused on what had actually happened in a few spots.  The second time I read it, everything fell into place with a big, "Ohhhh, now I get it."  I think I wasn't expecting the depth that he put into it.

I find myself wanting to say that each book is my favorite, but that's the thing with this series.  Almost every book is your favorite once you read it.  And the next one is only that much better.

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Recurring characters and themes in this book:

“Personal is not the same as important.”

Al-jibla (Klatchian Dibbler)

Angua, Corporal

Ankh-Morpork

Berghodlt Stuttley “Bloody Stupid” Johnson

Blind Hugh

Bows and Ammo

Buggy Swires, Constable

Burleigh & Stronginthearm

Cabbage

Carrot Ironfounderson, Captain

Cecil W. St. J “Nobby” Nobbs, Corporal

Chalky the Troll

Cheri LIttlebottom, Corporal

Cumbling Michael

Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler

Death

Detritus, Sergeant

Djelibeybi

Done-It Duncan

Dorfl, Constable

Downspout, Constable

D'regs

Drumknott, Secretary

Duck Man

Elm Street

Foul Ole Ron

Fred Colon, Sergeant

Genua

Havelock Vetinari, Patrician

Ironcrust's Dwarf Bread

Klatch

Leonard of Quirm

Leshp

Lord and Lady Selachii

Lord Downey, Assassin’s Guild

Lord Ronald “Ronnie” Rust

Lord Venturi

Mad Lord Snapcase, Patrician

Mr Hong, and the Three Jolly Luck Take-Away fish bar on Dagon street, site of old fish-God temple, opening on the night of the full moon

Mr. Boggis, Thieves’ Guild

Mr. Slant, Lawyers’ Guild

Mrs. Cake

Muntab

Mustrum Ridcully, Archchancellor UU

Old Stoneface Vimes

Pediment, Constable

Reg Shoe, Constable

Samuel Vimes, Commander/Duke/Knight

St. Ungulant ('s Fire)

Sybil Ramkin Vimes, Lady/Duchess

Tacticus, General

The Agony Aunts

The Alchemists’ Guild

The Assassin’s Guild

The Beggars’ Guild

The Bunch of Grapes

The Bursar

The Butchers’ Guild

The Dean

The Dis-Organizer

The Guild of Engravers

The Librarian

The Mended Drum

The Opera House

The Seamstresses' Guild

The Shades

The Thieves’ Guild

The Trousers of Time

Unseen University

Verity Pushpram

Visit-the-Non-Believer-with-Explanatory-Pamphlets “Washpot”, Constable

Wilkins, Butler

Winkle's Old Peculiar

I'm a Smith-oholic

If you know me, you probably know that I'm a big fan of Kevin Smith.

I can't exactlr remember how I first heard about "Clerks" and "Mallrats", but it was likely through the beginnings of the Internet while I was in grad school.  I do remember that I rented those movies, and then went to see "Chasing Amy" in the theater.  I've seen all of the rest of the Jersey Chronicles in the theater since then.

When "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" came out on video, I had a marathon viewing for my birthday.  It was a small turnout, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.  When "Clerks II" came out on my birthday weekend, a group of us went to see it.

And this week, while Jennifer has been traveling, I've watched one movie everyday.  Except for today, when I watched the last two.

Kevin Smith gets maligned a lot for his stuff.  But each movie he's done has been a specific type of movie: black-and-white indie, teen comedy, romance, action, road trip cartoony, and true sequel.  Then he's gone on to make others outside of that world, and in a year or so he'll be returning to it.

I'm not saying he's a cinematic genius, but he world is tight, deftly interwoven, entertaining.  Every one of the movies has at least one moment that still makes me laugh out loud.

I think tomorrow I'll re-watch "Red State".

Discworld - Death of a Holiday

Hogfather and Jingo came to me directly from Englad for VCR sitting for a friend.  This was back before DVRs, and she was recording "Lois and Clark" and "The X-Files", and so I went over a couple times while she was traveling, and switch out the tapes to keep them grouped properly.

Hogfather is a lot of fun to read as it weaves holiday stories in with the origins of the Discworld's version of Father Christmas, the Hogfather.  The continuing fight against the Auditors of reality is fun as you learn more of the "rules" around the conflict.

Hogfather was made into a live action special on the BBC that was done exceptionally well.  After watching animated adaptations of Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters, it was fascinating to see even closer how Pratchett had envisioned his city and world.

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Recurring concepts and characters in this book:

Adrian Turnipseed

Albert

Ankh-Morpork

Archchancellor (Galder) Weatherwax

Arnold Sideways

Bergholdt Stuttley "Bloody Stupid" Johnson

Bibulous, god of wine
Biers

Binky

Blind Io

Bows and Ammo

Burleigh & Stronginthearm

Cabbage

Carrot Ironfounderson, Captain

Chrysoprase

Coffin Henry

Death

Didactylos

Duck Man

Events in Reaper Man

Fate

Foul Ole Ron

Gaspode the Thinking-Brain Dog

General Tacticus

Hex

Hygiene

Lord Downey, Assassins' Guild

Lord Selachii

Mericet

Miss (Eulalie) Butts

Modo the Dwarf Gardener, UU

Mrs. Gammage

Mrs. Whitlow

Mustrum Ridcully, Archchancellor UU

Nobby Nobbs, Corporal

Offler, the Crocodile-Headed God

Old Man Trouble

Ponder Stibbons

Quoth the Raven

Scrote

Scumble

St. Ungulant

Susan Sto Helit

The Assassins' Guild

The Auditors

The Bursar (Mr. Dinwiddie)

The Campaign for Equal Heights

The Chair

The Dean

The Death of Rats

The High Energy Magic Building

The Lecturer in Recent Runes

The Librarian

The Power of Belief

The Prophet Ossory

The Senior Wrangler (Horace)

The Thieves' Guild

The Unreal Estate

The YMPA

Twurp's Peerage

Unseen University

Violet, a Tooth Fairy

Visit-the-Infidel-with-Explanatory-Pamphlets "Washpot", Constable

Windle Poons

Discworld - Watching for Poison

It is here in the middle of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, that my continuity became mixed up.  There were books being published in the UK at least 6 months before they were published in the US.  I already told how I had discovered Lord and Ladies and Men at Arms at Tower Books with their UK covers (and price tag).  Later I discovered the precursor to Amazon UK in W.H. Smith's online.  When I could afford it, they were my source of Discworld books when they came out until the US got proximal release dates.

Feet of Clay was one I found by surprise, not expecting a new Discworld book to be out yet.  And of course, I didn't savor it, but burned through it.  Being a Watch book, it again has a mystery component to it, but is also a procedural.  Fortunately, I got lucky enough to get the next two books at once as I was VCR sitting for a friend who was off on a trip to England...

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Recurring character and themes in book:

"Millennium hand and shrimp"

Arnold Sideways

Baron Guye von Uberwald "Silvertail"

Bearhugger’s whiskey

B'hrian Bloodaxe

Biers (formerly The Crown and Axe)

Burleigh & Stronginthearm

C. W. "Nobby" St. John de Nobbs, Corporal

Cabbage

Cable Street Particulars, Watch Division

Carrot Ironfounderson, Captain

Cheery "Cheri" Littlebottom, Corporal

Chrysoprase

Circle of rats with their tails intertwined

Clocks of Ankh-Morpork

Coffin Henry

Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler

Delphine Angua von Uberwald, Corporal

Detritus, Sergeant

Dorfl, Constable

Drumknott, Secretary

Duck Man

Dwarf Bread Museum

Elm Street

Flint, Constable

Foul Ole Ron

Fred Colon, Sergeant

Gaspode, the thinking brain dog

General Tacticus

Genua

Gerhardt Sock, Butcher's Guild

Gimlet

Gimlet's Hole Food Delicatessen

Havelock Vetinari, Patrician

Hughnon Ridcully, Chief Priest of Blind Io

Igneous the Troll

Igor

James "Doughnut Jimmy" Folsom

King Lorenzo the Kind

Lady Selachii

Lord Downey, Assassins' Guild

Lord Ronald Rust

Lord Winder, former Patrician

Mad Lord Snapcase, former Patrician

Moraine, Constable

Mr. Boggis, Thieves' Guild

Mr. Slant, Guild of Lawyers

Mrs. Cake

Mrs. Gammage

Mrs. Rosemary Palm, Seamstresses' Guild

Offler, the Crocodile-Headed God

Old Man Trouble

Quantum Weather Butterfly

Queen Molly, Beggars' Guild

Samuel Vimes, Commander Sir

Serafine Sox-Bloonberg "Yellowfang"

Silicon Anti-Defamation League

Slab

Stoneface "Suffer-not-Injustice" Vimes

Sybil Ramkin-Vimes

The Alchemists' Guild

The Assassins' Guild

The Battle of Koom Valley

The Brass Bridge

The Bucket on Gleam Street

The Campaign of Equal Heights for Dwarfs

The College of Heralds
The Death of Rats

The Dis-organizer

The Guild of Gamblers

The High Energy Magic Building

The Mended Drum

The Opera House

The Ramtops

The Seamstresses' Guild

The Skunk Club

Thieves' Guild

Twurp's Peerage

Uberwald

Unseen University

Venturi family

Violet, a tooth fairy

Visit-the-Infidel-with-Explanatory-Pamphlets "Washpot", Constable

Wallace Sonky
Wee Mad Arthur

Wilikins, the butler

Winkles beer

Discworld - When the Fat Lady Sings

It's amazing how quickly you can read things when you've turned off the television.  I read Maskerade in two days.

Of course the overarching theme of this book is "The Phantom of the Opera", and yes, I continually have the song "Masquerade" going through my head, but there is still so much more to this book.  There's the concept of three witches.  There's a little mystery.  And there's all the other little bits from operas and musicals that get mentioned.

Death appears several times in the book, but his best scene is his last.

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Recurring Characters and Concepts in this book:

"A Witch should never stand between two mirrors."
Agnes “Perdita X. Dream” Nitt

Ankh-Morpork

Black Aliss

Cable Street Particulars
Corporal Detritus, AM City Watch

Corporal Nobby Nobbs, AM City Watch

Death

Elm Street
Five exclamation points

Granny Esemerelda Weatherwax

Greebo

Lancre

Magrat Garlick, Queen

Millie Hopwood

Mother Dismass

Mr. Crisplock, Engraver

Nanny Gytha Ogg
Scumble

Seamstresses' Guild

Shawn Ogg

Thatcher the Carter

The Dreadful Bend in the Road / Deadman’s Curve

The Hedgehog Song

The Opera House

The Ramtops

The Shades

The Venturi family

Thomas Goatberger
Tinker the Tinker

Two Shirts
Verence II, King

Violet Frottidge

Discworld - There is No East, but Go That Way

I remember when Interesting Times came out, how excited I was the not only was it a Rincewind book, but also that Twoflower was in it too.  And Cohen's presence was just an added bonus.

This is another fun book that reads quickly.  Just the smattering of Japanese and Chinese cultural history that I know makes this book hilarious.  And again, the bits that Pratchett drops in from our reality are incredible.  What do you do with the terracotta army of China in Discworld?  Well, certainly they must become a real army of golem-like terracotta soldiers.  There's a tribute the Seven Samurai.  And there's even a take on a certain little red book.

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Recurring themes and characters in this book:

Adrian Turnipseed

Ankh-Morpork

Bergholt Stuttley "Bloody Stupid" Johnson

Betrobi, language of the people of the Brown Islands

Binky

Blind Io

Boy Willie

Caleb the Ripper

Cohen the Barbarian / Genghiz Cohen

Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler

Death

Disembowel-Myself-Honorably Dibhala

Dried Frog Pills

Drumknott, Secretary

Events from Sourcery

Events of Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic

Events from Eric

Fate
Five exclamation points (or [urinating dog]s)

Havelock Vetinari, Patrician

HEX

Hrun the Barbarian

Hygiene

Mad Hamish

Mad Lord Snapcase, former Patrician

Modo the Dwarf, Gardener UU

Mr. Boggis, Thieves' Guild

Mustrum Ridcully, Archchancellor

Nine Turning Mirrors, former Grand Vizier

Offler, the Crocodile-Headed God

Old Vincent

Ponder Stibbons

Quantum Weather Butterfly

Rincewind

Silicon Anti-Defamation League

Skund

The Alchemists' Guild

The Assassins' Guild
The Battle of Koom Valley

The Bursar

The Chair

The Counterweight Continent

The Dean of Indefinite Studies

The Four Horsemen

The Lady

The Lecturer in Recent Runes

The Luggage

The McSweeneys
The Million-to-One Chance

The Pointless Albatross
The Ramtops

The Senior Wrangler

The Thieves' Guild

Truckle the Uncivil

Twoflower

Unseen University

XXXX, the Last Continent

Thirsty

So, today for Father's Day, I went to my parents' house and cooked breakfast for my dad (and mom too).  I also helped dad go through his storage shed, and drove mom to pick up a prescription so that dad could get a little nap.

Now, of course, I got there via biking and BART.  And it's not like I didn't drink anything while I was there.  I think I had two glasses of orange juice, two glasses of milk, two glasses of water, and a beer.  And while I was on BART, or at least on the platform waiting for the train, I had water from my carrier bottle.

And then when i got home, I had some lemonade, and more water, and thought I'd brew some tea.  For dinner I had a Caesar salad with mushroom and sliced leftover steak.  But apparently I was still very thirsty, because when I sat down to eat, and brought my wine over, the table was already a little crowded with drinks.

Yeah, no idea either.  But at least I'm hydrated.

Inside "Inside Out"

So, on Monday, I got a text from Jennifer.  She asked me if I wanted to go see Pixar's new movie "Inside Out" on Tuesday (yesterday).

Now, we had worked out the first half of the week already with meals and such, and so I was surprised she wanted to go see a movie.  She called me and said that she had been looking at possible movies for the weekend, and there had been a Google banner ad about an insider look at "Inside Out".  She clicked on it and followed the path until she got to buy the tickets.

So last night we walked to AMC in Emeryville, less than a mile from where the movie had been made.  We got out tickets and when the ticket taker let us in, he gave us mini-posters and matching lanyard with tags.

Now, Jennifer has been very accommodating with my... movie going fixations over the years; however,  they tend to pay off.  If I'm not at the theater early, I get, I don't know, antsy, I guess.  I have a little part of me that wants to get the best seat, so I like to be there in time to be as close to first as possible.  Last night we were not the first in, but we got great seats: dead center on the row, and the back row of the front section of seats.

There were bits of trivia for the movie running, and some made sense and some didn't until after seeing it.  And the movie itself was great.

The story is engrossing and touched a big nerve as it's about a little girl who has to leave her friends and everything she knows behind to move to San Francisco.  And then things that happen outside and inside shape and reflect the other.  The two scenes that resonated most with me were the scene where she has to stand up in front of the class and introduce herself, and the resolution at the end.

One of the things that makes the movie visually compelling is that the two worlds are rendered in different fashions.  The "real world" is done in a pretty realistic fashion, but still keeps away from the uncanny valley.  The inside world is cartoon-ish and more symbolic.

The five voices used for the emotions are well chosen, and my favorite is Lewis Black.  When Robin Williams was chosen for "Aladdin", we all wondered how many outtakes of curse words there must have been.  We can now wonder the same thing with Lewis Black, but Pixar took that into account on many occasions.

You don't have to be a parent, or a girl to enjoy this movie, because it's not just about those things.  It's all about the journey.

Discworld - Music to Die For

So back in college, I read Christopher Stasheff's Warlock series.  There was one book called the Warlock Rock and it was full of music puns.  They weren't subtle, and some of it seemed quite forced.

Terry Pratchett's Soul Music, while it has some music puns, is much more entertaining and quite a bit more subtle.  Some of my favorite parts are the Discworld inversions of Earth bands.

Dwarves with Altitude
We're Certainly Dwarves
The Whom
&U

But parallel to the story of the rise of Music with Rocks In, is the introduction of Susan Sto Helit, daughter of Mort and Ysabell, and granddaughter of Death.  It's about how a seveteen-year-old girl deals with learning she has the powers of Death, while at the same time handling her crush on a boy in a band.

There's also the introduction of what actually goes on inside the High Energy Magic building at Unseen University.  In picturing the scattering of experiments and take-away food boxes, I can just picture the beginnings of HEX, the Discworld's version of a computer.  But that's okay, because he/it will be there and in use for the next book Interesting Times.

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Mentioned in this book:

"A Wizard's Staff Has a Knob On the End"

‘The World is Your Mollusk”

Albert / Alberto Malich

Ankh-Morpork

Arnold Sideways

Big Mad Drongo / Adrian Turnipseed

Binky

Blind Io

Bloody Stupid Johnson / UU Organ

Cabbages

Candle Dribbler

Casanunda

Catalog for Magic Shops

Chalky the Troll

Chrysoprase the Troll

Coffin Henry

Corporal C. W. St. J Nobbs

Cumbling Michael

Curry Gardens

Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler

Deadman's Curve
Death

Dorfl

D'regs
Duckman

Dwarf Gold Song

Dwarf Hi Ho Song

Eldritch means oblong

Events from Moving Pictures

Events from Reaperman

Foul Ole Ron

Gaspode (Limping Mongrel

Genua

Gimlet's Delicatessen / Hole Food

Glod

Havelock Vetinari, Patrician

Hex

Hygiene

Lancre

Llamedos

Miss Eulalie Butts

Modo the Dwarf Gardener at UU
Molly, maid

Mort

Moving Pictures

Mr. Hong and his All Night Take-Away Shop on Dagon Street

Mrs. Cosmopolite

Mrs. Whitlow

Music with Rocks In

Mustrum Ridcully, Archchancellor

Offler, The Crocodile-Headed God

Old Man Trouble

Ossory's Ass - Holy St. Bobby

Ponder Stibbons

Quantum

Queen Keli of Sto Lat

Quoth the Raven

Ramtops

Riktor the Counter
Scrote

Sergeant Fred Colon

Skazz

Susan Sto Helit

Tez the terrible

The Alchemists' Guild

The Assassins' Guild

The Bunch of Grapes

The Bursar

The Chair of Indefinite Studies

The Counterweight Continent

The Dean

The Death of Rats

The Fools' Guild

The High Energy Magic Building

The Hogfather

The Lecturer in Recent Runes

The Librarian

The Listening Monks

The Mended Drum

The Opera House

The Power of Belief

The Quirm College for Young Ladies

The Rite of Ashk-Ente

The Seamstresses' Guild

The Senior Wrangler

The Thieves' Guild

The Tooth Fairy

Things from the Dungeon Dimensions

Unseen University

Ysabell

Discworld - Watching Equality Among Races

While I was still reading Reaper Man, I came across this article on the web.  Once again Pratchett knew things before any of us.  The man mined information more than any author I've come across.

Men at Arms is a favorite (yes, I know, but they're almost all favorites) because it introduces Angua, brings back Detritus, and plays on old themes.  When Cuddy is trying to teach the Dwarven Gold Song (which is made up of only the word "gold") to Detritus (who he then keeps berating for getting the song wrong) you can't help but laugh.  And yes, this fantasy world has gunpowder (Black Powder #1), but the book is all about why and why not.

The Guards books are Pratchett's writings of mysteries and police procedural, but at the same time he addresses other issues.  Dwarves and Trolls hate each other, but humans have their own feelings towards them.  Trolls appear stupid so they are marginalized.  Dwarves are subtly discriminated again because "everyone knows what Dwarves are like."  Everyone but Dwarves of course.

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Appearing in this book:

“Do deformed rabbit, it’s my favorite”

“Millennium hand and shrimp"
"Personal is not the same as important."

“The world is your mollusk”

Ankh-Morpork

Bearhugger's Very Fine Whiskey

Beggars guild

Bells of Ankh-Morpork

Bloody Stupid Johnson/UU Organ

Captain "Mayonaise" Quirk

Captain Vimes

Chalky the Troll

Chrysoprase, the Troll

Coalface the Troll

Corporal C. W. St. J Nobbs

Corporal Carrot Ironfounderson

Cumbling Michael
Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler

Death

Done-It Duncan
Doughnut Jimmy
Dr. Cruces, Assassins’ Guild

Dragon attack

Dried Frog Pills
Drumknott, Secretary

Dwarf bread

Dwarf Bread Museum - Rime Street

Dwarf delicatessen (Gimlet’s)

Dwarven Gold song

Elm Street

Fingers Mazda
Flint the Troll

Foul Ole Ron

Gaspode

Gerhardt Sock, Butchers’ Guild

Grabpot Thundergust the Dwarf

Hi ho song

Koom Valley

Lady Selachii

Lady Sybil Ramkin

Lance-Constable Angua

Lance-Constable Cuddy

Lance-Constable Detritus

Leonard da Quirm

Lord Downey, Assassins’ Guild

Lord Havelock Vetinari, The Patrician

Lord Rust

Lord Venturii

Ludmilla Cake

Mad Lord Snapcase, former Patrician

Moraine the Troll

Mr. (Arthur) Winkins

Mr. Hong and the Three Jolly Luck Take-Away Fish Bar on Dagon Street opening on the Winter Solstice under a Full Moon

Mr. Ixiolite, the Banshee

Mr. Morecombe, Vampire Lawyer

Mr. Whiteface, Fool’s Guild

Mrs. Cake

Mrs. Drull, the Ghoul

Mustrum Ridcully, Archchancellor
Old Stoneface (Vimes)

Quantum Weather Butterfly

Queen Molly of the Beggars’ Guild

Reg Shoe

Ruby

Sargent Colon

Sendivoge, Alchemists’ Guild

Sham Harga/Harga's House of Ribs
Silas Cumberbatch, Town-Crier

Silicon Anti-Defamation League

Silverfish, Alchemist’s Guild
Slice (Mountain)

Stronginthearm the Dwarf

The Assassins' Guild

The Brass bridge

The Bucket on Gleam Street

The Bursar
The Dean
The Fools' Guild

The High-Energy Magic Building

The Librarian

The Librarian

The Mona Ogg

The Opera House

The Pork Futures Warehouse

The Ramtops/Copperhead

The Royal Mail/The Post Office

The Thieves' Guild

The Things from the Dungeon Dimensions

The Unreal Estate

Twurp's Peerage

Unseen University

Wilikins, Butler
Wolf pack leader like Carrot

Discworld - A Little Murder

"Theater of Cruelty" is another short story set on the Discworld, specifically in Ankh-Morpork.

I don't know why this took me two readings to really understand what was going on.  I think I just wasn't up on the "real" story of Punch and Judy when I first read it.  But now, it's a favorite.

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Appearing in this book:

Ankh-Morpork
Captain Vimes
Corporal Carrot Ironfounderson
Corporal Nobbs
Death
Gnomes
Sargeant Colon

Discworld - All Just a Dream

So take "A Midsummer Night's Dream", then interleave a reverse of "The Taming of the Shrew", then add in the characters of the Discworld, and look at things through the lens of Pratchett's mind.  That is Lord and Ladies.

I can remember buying this book and the next one (Men at Arms) at Tower books.  And they were expensive, because they were the version from England.  In a mass-market paperback size, they were $10 or $11 each.  And this was in 1993.

But they were so worth the price.  I got so much pleasure reading them and getting the next installment of both the Witches and the Watch.

This is a pretty big "crossover" kind of book with known characters from Unseen University meeting the people of Lancre.  And lots of little bits get mentioned in conversations.  Again it's refreshing that characters have memories and history.  Up until reading this, the only shared universe in fiction that I read was in comics.  Sure I read Larry Niven, but his main characters came from such different time periods that they hardly ever met.

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Appearing in this book:

"A Wizards Staff Has a Knob on the End"
"Millennium Hand and Shrimp"
"Pull the other one..."

"The Hedgehog Song"

Agnes "Perdita" Nitt

Ankh-Morpork

Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully
Archchancellor (Galder) Weatherwax
Archchancellor (Greyhald) "Tudgy" Spold

Baker the Weaver

Bestiality Carter

Black Aliss

Bows and Ammo
Cabbages

Carpenter the Poacher

Carter the Baker

Casanunda

Dried Frog Pills

Elves

Eyes like Gimlet

Genghiz Cohen
Granny Esmerelda Weatherwax

Granny's Rag Rug from the Smith in Bad Ass

Greebo

Herne the Hunted

High Energy Magic Building

Hodgesaargh

Hwel, Tomjon, and Vittoler's men - The Dysk

Ironfounderson the Dwarf

Jason Ogg

King Verence II

Lancre

Lucy "Diamanda" Tockley

Magrat Garlick

Millie Chillum

Millie Hopwood
Mr. Brooks the Beekeeper

Mr. Ixiolite the Banshee
Mr. Spriggins the Butler

Mrs. Scorbic the Cook

Nanny Gytha Ogg
Nanny Gripes

Nanny's Still

Obidiah Carpenter the Tailor

Octarine Grass Country

Old Poorchick and his cow
Oggham
"Personal isn't the same as important."

Pewsey Ogg

Ponder Stibbons - The Reader in Invisible Writings

Quantum

Queen Ynci
Scumble

Sean Ogg

Slice and the Place Where the Sun Doesn't Shine
Scumble

Sto Helit

Sto Lat

Strict Offlians (Offler, the Crocodile-Headed God)

Tailor the Other Weaver

Thatcher the Carter

The Archchancellor's Hat
The Bursar

The Dean

The Green-Purple Wobbly Bit
The Hi Ho Song
The Lancre Morris Dancers

The Lecturer in Recent Runes

The Librarian

The Queen of the Elves (Fairies)

The Single Standing Stone
The Stick and Bucket Dance

The Things from the Dungeon Dimensions

The Tooth Fairy

The Trousers of Time

The Vampire Queen of Lancre
Tinker the Tinker

Twurp's Peerage

Unseen University

Violet Frottidge
Weaver the Thatcher

Continued Learning

Last Saturday, San Pablo Avenue was closed from Ashby Avenue to Stanford Avenue for about 8 hours for a "Love Your Neighborhood" event.  the point is to help people realize that San Pablo Avenue is not just a substitute for Interstate 80, but a road that goes by lots of residences and small businesses.

It had lots of booths for local community businesses and such/

One of the booths was for Biketopia which is up Alcatraz Avenue by Adeline Street.  It was just one guy (Hiro) who was doing bike inspections and minor repairs.  He looked over my chain, and suggested it was pretty worn and should be replaced.

So, yesterday, after stopping off to cool down at home, I rode back up and got my chain replaced.

By me.

Biketopia is one of many shops around that is volunteer run, and teaches a bike owner how to do their own repairs.  I learned in my first year from another shop how to change inner tubes for flat tires.  This time, I learned (from Reaux) how to disassemble and clean the derailleur, and change the chain.  Now my gears are clean, the derailleur is gunk free, and my chain is shiny and silver.  It was one that was pre-waxed, so it shouldn't need to be oiled for about a week.  I also got a briefing on bicycle disc brakes.  I'm going to need to replace the pads on mine soon, but with the instruction Hiro gave me, I learned how easy it is to change them out.

Discworld - The True Power of Belief

Small Gods is probably Pratchett's most thought provoking book.

It's not just his continuing theme that Belief creates Gods.  This is another book that is full of great lines and phrases, but one of the best is that people die for lies, but they should live for a truth.

I've known people like Vorbis who are so closed in their minds that what they think are the word of God are really just heir thoughts being reflected back to them.

This is another book that I think should be taught and studied in schools for its concepts.

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Appearing in this book:

"The World is Your Mollusk..."

Abbys, The Prophet
Ankh-Morpork

Belief Creates Gods

Bibulous, god of wine
Binky

Blind Io
Bonsai Mountains

Cena,The Prophet
Chaos Butterfly

Cut-Me-Own-Hand-Off Dhblah

Death

Didactylos
Djelibeybi

Do Deformed Rabbit

Ephebe

Ibid

Lu-Tze

Patina, goddess of wisdom
Offler, the Crocodile-Headed God

Ossory, The Prophet

Simony, Sergeant
St. Ungulant

The Brown Islands

The Desert after Death

The Great God Om

The History Monks

The Librarian

The Million to One Chance

The Ramtops

Tsort

Unseen University

Xeno

Conspiracy of Frustration

I know I've ranted before over my frustration over the changes that happened about 4 years ago at DC Comics.  And that I can't seem to let it go (No Singing!).  Apparently I'm not the only one.

Friday I came across this article at Bleeding Cool.  I think it sums it up very well.

Now, my friend John and I rarely saw eye to eye on comics.  But something he said about the original Crisis on Infinite Earths seems more fitting even now than when he first mentioned it.  He said that after the Crisis DC should have started over at that point with all of the books.  Now that may be what they tried to do with the New 52, but that is where I think they inadvertently hurt most of the long time readers.

In throwing away the old numbering it seemed they threw away the history of the company.  When they did Zero Hour a few years later they did a #0 issue, and I think it was the best intentioned of the plans.  It gave the "new" backstory of each character.DC did something similar tot he New 52, but waited about a year into the new run to do it.  If they had used that method again, I think it would have helped more.  Instead of throwing everyone into this mysterious universe where Superman and Shazam are very different, Batman and Green Lantern have hardly changed, and there's all these new heroes and villains, some created for the new universe and some brought over from Wildstorm, why not do a beginning introductory issue?

So anyway, this probably won't be my last rant, but it's good to know I'm not alone in my reasons.

Discworld - Wandering Witches

With Witches Abroad, we return to the Witches of Lancre.  Aside from the main story there is still the building of the history of the kingdom and nearby places.  In this story about stories and the power of narrative on the Discworld, we learn more about the Disc's version of Maleficent: Black Aliss.  In Wyrd Sisters there is reference to her as the witch responsible for the Sleeping Beauty story as well as a hint that she went loopy and may have been the constructor of the gingerbread house in Light Fantastic.  When the witches encounter another sleeping castle, Nanny refers to it as a "Black Aliss job".  She even mentions being taken to meet her when she was still learning her craft.

It's things like this that Pratchett uses to gradually fill out the history of the Disc.  It helps to know that there have been things going on for years before the "present".  We've seen the creation and end of the universe, the creation of the Disc, the Tsortean War, the beginning of the Kingdom of Djelybeybi, and a continued the filling out of the previous generation of the Ramtops and even hints from Ankh-Morpork.
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Appearing in this book:

"A Witch should never stand between two mirrors."
"A Wizard's Staff Has a Knob on the End"

"The Hedgehog Song"

Ankh-Morpork

Belief and Creation

Black Aliss

Cripple Mr. Onion

Death

Dwarf bread
Emberella

Genua

Granny Weatherwax

Granny: Smiling/humming/ear cleaning/tch tch tch

Greebo and his Changing

Inspiration particles

Jason Ogg

Lobsang Dibbler

Magrat Garlick

Nanny Ogg

Ninj as a verb

Old Mother Dismass

Sean Ogg

Skund

Skund

The Assassin's Guild

The Chaos Butterfly

The Million to One Chance

The Morris Dance

The Ramtops

The Way of Mrs. Cosmopolite

The Weatherwax Family Being Good at Magic

Touch of Glod / Glod the Dwarf